EP0323091A2 - Gerät für ein Ballrückprallspiel - Google Patents

Gerät für ein Ballrückprallspiel Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0323091A2
EP0323091A2 EP88311976A EP88311976A EP0323091A2 EP 0323091 A2 EP0323091 A2 EP 0323091A2 EP 88311976 A EP88311976 A EP 88311976A EP 88311976 A EP88311976 A EP 88311976A EP 0323091 A2 EP0323091 A2 EP 0323091A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
court
deflecting element
rebound surface
peripheral edge
generally
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP88311976A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0323091A3 (en
Inventor
David Mclean
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of EP0323091A2 publication Critical patent/EP0323091A2/de
Publication of EP0323091A3 publication Critical patent/EP0323091A3/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B67/00—Sporting games or accessories therefor, not provided for in groups A63B1/00 - A63B65/00
    • A63B67/002—Games using balls, not otherwise provided for
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B67/00—Sporting games or accessories therefor, not provided for in groups A63B1/00 - A63B65/00
    • A63B67/04—Table games physically beneficial for the human body, modelled on outdoor sports, e.g. table tennis
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B69/00—Training appliances or apparatus for special sports
    • A63B69/0053—Apparatus generating random stimulus signals for reaction-time training involving a substantial physical effort
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B69/00—Training appliances or apparatus for special sports
    • A63B69/0097—Ball rebound walls
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B2210/00—Space saving
    • A63B2210/50—Size reducing arrangements for stowing or transport
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B2225/00—Miscellaneous features of sport apparatus, devices or equipment
    • A63B2225/09—Adjustable dimensions
    • A63B2225/093—Height

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to rebounding ball games.
  • the present invention relates to an apparatus for a rebounding ball game in which competitors score points by bouncing a ball against a vertical concave spherical deflector such that the ball rebounds into a designated area of an associated planar horizontal court.
  • Rebounding ball games are known in which competing players propel a ball against a rebound surface or backboard, attempting to place the ball strategically within a court or defined area to prevent an opponent from successfully returning the ball and thus score points.
  • Such games as squash and racquetball are played in a full court in which the players position themselves on the court for play.
  • Tabletop rebounding ball games also exist wherein the court is defined by the upper surface of an elevated sheet of rigid material.
  • backboards are known for attachment to a rectangular table tennis table, whereby players position themselves at one end of the table and propel a ball against a vertical backboard extending upwardly from the table at the other end.
  • players score points by rebounding the ball against the backboard to place it in a strategic position on the court, usually on the players' side of a net extending across the court between the players and the backboard, to prevent its return by the other player.
  • the present invention provides a rebounding ball game having a circular court and a spherical vertical rebound surface.
  • the rebound characteristics of the game contemplated by the present invention differ significantly from those utilizing a planar backboard surface, in that, in the apparatus of the present invention, the angle of incidence of the ball will equal the angle of deflection relative to a radius from the notional centre of the spherical rebound surface to the point of contact thereon by the ball.
  • the direction of the reference radius thus varies depending upon the point of contact by the ball with the spherical rebound surface, thereby increasing the difficulty of the game.
  • a player develops skill in the game contemplated by the apparatus of the present invention by learning the direction of the reference radius, relative to which the angle of incidence of the ball equals the angle of its deflection, at various points on the spherical rebound surface.
  • a skilled player may thus, by propelling the ball with a selected force at a selected position on the spherical rebound surface, anticipate the resulting placement of the ball on the court, and the player may accordingly place the ball strategically on the court to prevent its return by his opponent.
  • the present invention provides, in a preferred embodiment, an apparatus for a rebounding ball game comprising a court adapted for a generally horizontal orientation, and a deflecting element having a forward spherical concave rebound surface and a peripheral edge, adapted to be mounted generally vertically relative to the court such that at least a substantial portion of the court extends forwardly of the deflecting element and at least a substantial portion of the deflecting element extends upwardly from the court with the peripheral edge generally orthogonal thereto.
  • the present invention provides, in combination, a table having a generally planar elevated court and a deflecting element having a forward spherical concave rebound surface and a peripheral edge, the deflecting element being adapted to be mounted such that the peripheral edge is generally vertical with at least a substantial portion of the court extending forwardly of the rebound surface and at least a substantial portion of the rebound surface extending upwardly from the court.
  • the present invention provides an apparatus for a rebounding ball game, comprising a table having legs and a generally planar court adapted for horizontal mounting thereon, and a deflecting element having a forward spherical concave rebound surface and a peripheral edge and means for removably securing a support, whereby the deflecting element can be displaced between a position wherein at least a substantial portion of the rebound surface extends upwardly from the court, a substantial portion of the court extends forwardly of the rebound surface and the peripheral edge is generally orthogonal to the court, and a position wherein the deflecting element rests on the support above the table with the peripheral edge generally horizontal to shield the court from adverse weather conditions.
  • a table 10 having a generally planar horizontal court 12 supported by a tripod 14.
  • the court 12 is preferably the upper surface of a horizontal sheet 11 of rigid material, such as wood or plastic, with suitable reinforcement to prevent sagging.
  • the horizontal sheet 11 is preferably an integral sheet, however it may be composed of any number of integrated pieces such that such pieces when assembled provide an integral surface for the court 12.
  • the court 12 may be supported by any suitable structure, such as a pedestal, or by legs.
  • support for the court 12 comprises a tripod 14 having legs, 16, 18, 20 attached to the underside of the sheet 11 at points about the periphery thereof, each point being approximately equi-distant from the other two for maximum support.
  • the legs 16, 18, 20 are directed inwardly and connected at a common junction 22, each leg extending therebeyond to contact the ground or floor.
  • Levellers may be included to ensure that the court 12 is properly level.
  • legs 16, 18, 20 may be composed of telescoping sections to adjust the height of the court 12.
  • each leg is attached to the underside of the sheet 11, as aforesaid, by means of a pin 26 removably received through opposed holes in a bracket 28 and complementary holes through the upper end of the leg.
  • a pin 26 removably received through opposed holes in a bracket 28 and complementary holes through the upper end of the leg.
  • the legs 16, 18, 20 can be detached from sheet 11 simply by removal of the pins 26.
  • Cut out of the court 12 adjacent to an edge thereof is a crescent-shaped aperture 30 having a lip 31.
  • a deflecting element 32 having a concave spherical rebound surface 34 is mounted in the aperture 30 such that its peripheral edge 33 is approximately orthogonal to the court 12.
  • the aperture 30 is wide enough to permit the deflecting element 32 to be removably mounted therein with sufficient stability to retain the deflecting element 32 in the desired vertical orientation, preferably such that approximately one quarter of the spherical rebound surface 34 depends below the level of the court 12.
  • the deflecting element 32 is preferably composed of three equal sections of a rigid material such as wood or plastic which lock together tongue-in-groove or by means of tracks or clips or other known means which permit easy disassembly for transporting.
  • the spherical rebound surface 34 of the deflecting element 32 consists of a portion of a sphere as described in greater detail below.
  • the apparatus In use the apparatus is assembled as described above. Depending upon the rules agreed to between competing players, the players position themselves generally on opposite sides of the centre line 13 on the court 12 forwardly of the rebound surface 34 of the deflecting element 32.
  • a resilient ball can rebound in any permitted combination against the court 12 and the rebound surface 34, although it is intended that the ball be propelled by the players toward the rebound surface 34 to rebound therefrom onto the court 12.
  • the ball may be propelled by the players by hand or by racquets utilized in known rebounding ball games or any equivalent thereof.
  • a player may anticipate the angle of rebound of the ball striking the spherical rebound surface 34 by conceptualizing a radius from the notional centre 40 to the point of contact of the ball on the rebound surface 34. The angle of incidence of the ball relative to this imaginary radius will equal the angle of deflection of the ball relative thereto. A player may thus predict the direction that the ball will rebound off of the rebound surface 34 for placement at a strategic location on the court 12.
  • the game contemplated by the subject invention is played differently from rebounding ball games played against a planar vertical backboard.
  • the player in order to place the ball selectively further across the court, i.e. away from the player, the player can propel the ball to strike the backboard with the same force at correspondingly greater distances from himself.
  • the player in order to place the ball at selectively further points across the court 12 the player can propel the ball to strike points on the spherical rebound surface 34 correspondingly closer to the player.
  • the court 12 preferably has cut out adjacent to the crescent-shaped aperture 30 an extension thereof defined by two arcuate edges 44 having a lip 31 and approximating the curvature of the spherical rebound surface 34 and extending between the centre line 13 of the court 12 and the tips of the crescent shaped aperture 30.
  • This provides an aperture 42 in the court 12 which can serve the purposes of both defining an out-of-play region of the court, if the ball drops through the aperture 42, and providing a means for enabling the ball to be directed upwardly through to the spherical rebound surface 34 from beneath the level of the court 12 in order to keep the ball in play.
  • the aperture 42 may be smaller or omitted entirely to render the game easier to play.
  • a hole 46 is presented through approximately the centre of the deflecting element 32 for receiving a pin 48 at the end of a post 50.
  • the post 50 may be positioned through a hole 52 through the approximate centre of the court 12 and an annular ring or sleeve 54 forming the junction 22 of the legs 16, 18, 20 of the tripod 14.
  • the post 50 thus rests on the ground or floor and can support the deflecting element in a horizontal position to act as an umbrella protecting the court 12 from adverse weather conditions such as sunlight and precipitation.
  • a plug (not shown) may be used to conceal the hole 46 when the game is in play.
  • the post 50 is preferably composed of two sections, 50a and 50b, joined by a releasable hinge 56.
  • a lever 58 which locks or releases the hinge 56 permits the deflecting element 32 to be raised to a selected orientation between the vertical and the horizontal.
  • the post 50 may also be provided with an umbrella structure 70 spaced from the deflecting element 32, as illustrated in Figure 14.
  • the deflecting element 32 has a hole 46 large enough to accept a constricted extension 51 of the post 50, with the pin 48 projecting therefrom which may be capped to secure the umbrella 70.
  • This enables the deflecting element 32 to pivot downwardly directly into the aperture 30, while the umbrella 70 is sufficiently spaced from the deflecting element 32 that when pivoted downwardly it clears the margin of the court, and can act as a backdrop to capture balls propelled past the deflecting element 32.
  • the post 50 in this embodiment is not removed from the court 12 when the game is in play. When the post 50 is upright the deflecting element 32 is substantially concealed by the umbrella 70.
  • the apparatus of the present invention may be used as an outdoor or indoor table.
  • the deflecting element 32 can be stored underneath the sheet 11, nested on the legs 16, 18, 20 of the tripod 14, as illustrated in Figure 9, by detaching the sheet 11 from the tripod 14, and reattaching same after positioning the deflectment element 32.
  • An insert 60 preferably composed of the same material having the same thickness as the sheet 11 and congruent with the shape of the apertures 30, 42 can be placed into the apertures 30, 42 to provide a uniform tabletop surface.
  • the insert 60 has a lip 61 complementary to the lip 31 of the aperture, as illustrated in Figure 8, to retain the insert 60 in the aperture.
  • the apparatus may then easily be converted back to the rebounding ball game embodiment for play when desired by removal of the insert 60 and mounting of the deflecting element 32.
  • the apparatus of the present invention may be constructed to any size suitable for the players.
  • the court 12 is circular and approximately five feet in diameter.
  • the horizontal sheet 11 is round, to conform with the court 12. Because of the manner in which the ball rebounds off of the spherical rebound surface 34 it has been determined that the most preferable shape for the court 12 is a circle, and for easiest movement by the players around the court 12, the horizontal sheet 11 should similarly be circular and no larger than the court.
  • the spherical rebound surface 34 is preferably approximately four feet in diameter at the peripheral edge 33, and represents the cap of a spherical sector of a sphere approximately 4.7 feet in diameter obtained when the plane of the spherical sector intersects one side of an equilateral triangle intersecting the great circle of the sphere, at right angles to the triangle, as illustrated in Figure 10.
  • a rebound surface 34 of this configuration a ball propelled from the side of the court barely glancing one side of the peripheral edge 33 of the deflecting element 32 and rebounding off of the other side of the spherical rebound surface 34 at the peripheral edge 33 will not deflect past the centre line 13, as illustrated in Figure 11.
  • multiple rebounds are possible from a single shot.
  • the centre 40 of the spherical rebound surface 34 is in vertical alignment with the centre of the court 12, resulting in a margin of approximately 0.3 feet around the deflecting element 32, as illustrated in Figure 2. This enables a player to propel the ball toward the rebound surface 34 so that it rolls along the rebound surface 34 and, once past the peripheral edge 33, can still land on the court 12 at the margin thereof.
  • a deflecting element 62 having a rebound surface 34 with the same configuration described above but suitably larger may be mounted on the floor or ground.
  • the court 12 may be delineated on the floor or ground forward of the spherical rebound surface 34, preferably proportionally having the same relative dimensions as those described above in connection with the tabletop version of the apparatus.
  • the apertures 30, 42 may be cut out of the floor or dug out of the ground to provide a mount for the deflecting element 62 and an out-of-play zone as aforesaid.
  • the deflecting element 62 may be severed along its peripheral edge 63 to form a bottom edge 64 upon which the deflecting element 62 rests, and lines 65 may be drawn to delineate an out-of-play area of the court 12, as illustrated in Figure 13.
  • the type of ball and, if desired, racquet used would be those more appropriate to a full-court sport such as racquetball or squash, or modifications thereof.

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)
EP88311976A 1987-12-24 1988-12-16 Apparatus for a rebounding ball game Withdrawn EP0323091A3 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US137569 1987-12-24
US07/137,569 US4824108A (en) 1987-12-24 1987-12-24 Rebounding ball game

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0323091A2 true EP0323091A2 (de) 1989-07-05
EP0323091A3 EP0323091A3 (en) 1990-01-31

Family

ID=22478039

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88311976A Withdrawn EP0323091A3 (en) 1987-12-24 1988-12-16 Apparatus for a rebounding ball game

Country Status (2)

Country Link
US (1) US4824108A (de)
EP (1) EP0323091A3 (de)

Families Citing this family (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5354051A (en) * 1993-05-06 1994-10-11 Fehrenbach Donald E Ball return practice device
US5531449A (en) * 1995-04-14 1996-07-02 Denton; William H. Portable stoopball striker
US20060284370A1 (en) * 2005-06-20 2006-12-21 Pai Li Business Co., Ltd. Goal end board of a soccer playing table
DE102006057355B4 (de) 2006-12-04 2020-01-09 Steffen Baden Miniatur-Wettkampf-Ballspiel, insbesondere Tischtennisspiel, mit einer Spielfläche in Form eines runden Tischs und einer hohlzylindrisch gewölbten Rückprallwand
US9155952B2 (en) * 2009-12-10 2015-10-13 Tatsuya Yamanashi Tennis training apparatus
US8607714B2 (en) * 2010-10-15 2013-12-17 Charles E. Ramberg Shade structure
US9243747B2 (en) * 2010-10-15 2016-01-26 Charles E. Ramberg Shade structure
USD912745S1 (en) 2020-06-16 2021-03-09 Robert S. Armell Ball rebounding practice device
KR102694522B1 (ko) * 2021-12-29 2024-08-13 이진식 단체 경기용 365 볼장치

Family Cites Families (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE555523C (de) * 1931-03-17 1932-07-23 Heinrich Lustig Tennis-Lehrbehelf mit gekruemmter, die Baelle zum Schlagenden zurueckprallender Wand
US2066159A (en) * 1936-01-08 1936-12-29 Emmanuel L Delyra Deflector ball game
US2174884A (en) * 1937-02-19 1939-10-03 Henry W Kachel Apparatus for table tennis games
FR855057A (fr) * 1939-01-18 1940-05-01 Nouveaux perfectionnements aux parcs ou plateaux de jeux
US2781194A (en) * 1953-08-07 1957-02-12 George H Forsyth Bouncing ball game apparatus having a sound strip
US3062544A (en) * 1959-08-12 1962-11-06 Charles W Viets Collapsible game table
US3059927A (en) * 1960-10-19 1962-10-23 Arthur J Kamp Ball game
US3088735A (en) * 1961-01-13 1963-05-07 Theodore W Clark Rebound board for table tennis
US3782435A (en) * 1972-06-13 1974-01-01 R Sherman Table protector
US3968967A (en) * 1975-03-28 1976-07-13 Nally Phillip L Symmetrically arranged, hemispherical ball rebounding elements
US4134585A (en) * 1976-03-26 1979-01-16 Alex Semon Table tennis return board
AU536542B2 (en) * 1979-07-19 1984-05-10 Guenter Arndt Modified table-tennis game
US4478420A (en) * 1983-03-04 1984-10-23 Sowards Gregory E Soccer training and practice device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0323091A3 (en) 1990-01-31
US4824108A (en) 1989-04-25

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